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GTA 1 — GTA 2

In Grand Theft Auto 1, the police car is known as the "Squad Car". Three variants of the car exist, each appearing in one of the game's three cities. In Liberty City, the Squad Car is rounded vehicle with blue-white livery, appearing similar to a 1990's Chevrolet Caprice; the San Andreas/Vice City variants are actually adaptations of the Portsmouth, with the San Andreas version bearing a black-and-white body color design and similar angular body design, and the Vice City rendition being colored blue and white but features a modified body that appears wider and rounded. In the PC version of GTA 1, the police cars (along with the Ambulance and the Fire Truck) will have their radio tuned to Brooklyn Underground FM, unlike all other renditions throughout the series which only have the standard police dispatch radio.

The performance of GTA 1 Squad Cars are identical in all three cities, and are all essentially the best in the game, with the highest top speed and acceleration among all cars in the game, highly responsive brakes and good grip. While the cars are given a very high export value of $2,000, but the cars cannot be exported, as are other emergency vehicles.

In Grand Theft Auto 2, the police car is known as the "Cop Car" and assumes a completely original design, looking like a retro-futuristic squad car with 1940s design cues. Like in GTA 1, it is the fastest car in the game, along with the Meteor, and features responsive cornering and brakes, making it a desirable vehicle to drive. It is also the only car in the game which gives a Cop Bribe when crushed.

GTA III — GTA Vice City Stories

In all the games of this era, the police car has been known as the "Police", with the exception of GTA Advance and GTA Vice City Stories. In GTA Advance, it is referred to as the "Police Car", and in GTA Vice City Stories, it is called the "VCPD Cruiser".

Throughout all 3D era games, police cars are very fast, with excellent handling, and moderate durability. These stats make it great for drifting. They have two sirens, one default "long-whirl", and the "rotating-weep", triggered by holding the horn button. The player will receive 5 rounds of ammunition for any weapon in the Shotgun slot after entering a Police car.

GTA III & GTA Liberty City Stories

The Police Car in these two games resembles a cross between a Chevrolet Caprice and a Ford Crown Victoria.

In GTA III, the Police Car was originally intended to have a blue-and-white stripes livery similar to the 1990s/early 2000s NYPD police cars, however, in the final version, they have standard black and white livery like the Los Angeles Police Department. Also, the original Police Car had a more sleek profile compared to the final which appears more angular/boxy (though hints of the aerodynamic design do remain). The Police Cars in GTA Liberty City Stories feature the stripes livery intended for GTA III cars, albeit in black-and-white rather than blue-and-white.

GTA Vice City & GTA Vice City Stories

In these two games, the vehicle resembles a 1980's Ford LTD, and both feature a green and white livery, much like the Miami-Dade Police Department. During development, the vehicle was white with red and blue stripes along each side, resembling squad cars from the Miami Beach Police Department. Despite the differences in textures and paint, the vehicle polygon model is reused from GTA III. In the PC version of GTA Vice City, a rare all-white variant can be found parked at random locations.

Early pre-release depiction of GTA Vice City's police car, featuring a livery more alike to that of the Miami Beach Police Department.

GTA San Andreas

There are three variations in GTA San Andreas. The Los Santos Police Department and San Fierro Police Department versions have the same build, based on the Premier, with the San Fierro version having slightly higher suspension most likely due to San Fierro's hilly streets with steep inclines (like its real life counterpart, San Francisco), and markings for their respective cities. The Las Venturas Police Department version generally resembles a 1981-1990 Chevrolet Caprice, with the sides and back reminiscent of the 1980-1989 Dodge Diplomat, and the closest civilian car in the game is the Tahoma. All police vehicles feature a standard black and white livery.

The police officers in the countryside employ a large, four-by-four Ranger, based on the Rancher, for pursuit on rough terrain.

In a beta screenshot you can see that the cars were originally going to have "POLICE" written on the back in red writing

GTA Advance

The GTA Advance rendition of the Police is designed to bear a likeness to the Police from GTA III, with a generally rounded profile and a black-white paintjob. Unlike other renditions, the car is substantially more speedy, with a top speed matched with the Banshee's. Being a mid-sized car, crushing the Police will only award the player with a base amount of $532.

The player can get in any police car and access the police computer while stationary. Here, the player can access Most Wanted missions, or locate and apprehend nearby criminals. The siren on the Police Car features some variations, including the classic "code-3 siren" wail, the yelp when the siren is activated and the horn button held down, and, if the siren is turned off and the horn button held down, a distorted "crowd control" air horn, as used in real life. One missing siren variation is the code-2 siren which is just lights but no siren, but this siren is possible in a rare glitch. The air horn is the most common horn sound which is available for both police cars (and other emergency vehicles). Officers in real life use it to pull over people and respond to domestic calls (but when cruising, police sometimes honk regular horn rather than air horn) In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas you can do it by rapidly turning it on and of until just the lights are on as if you where not in the police car with the lights on. The lights without siren only occurs when exiting the vehicle with siren on, applying only when the player does it. This code-2 siren glitch has been confirmed on GTA IV.

The player can dial 911 to summon the police car by luring them to a false alarm. Stealing the car (while the officer searches for any incidents), will attract a one-star Wanted level. In some places, a police car can be stolen from a parking lot or curbside without incurring a Wanted level.

GTA Chinatown Wars

GTA China Town Wars (DS)

Police cars in GTA Chinatown Wars are simply dubbed "Police Patrols", the same name for those seen in GTA IV. While having reverted to a panda body colour scheme, the car incorporates GTA IV's police computer for use in vigilante side missions. Although the car is implied to be similar to GTA IV's Declasse-based Police Patrol, pre-rendered depictions of the Police Patrol and the Police Cruiser are used during "busted" sequences in the game.

GTA V

Three types of police cars are seen in GTA V. The first one is the Police Cruiser, based on a Ford crown Victoria. The second is the Vapid Interceptor also named Police Cruiser in game. The third is the Police Buffalo which is also named Police Cruiser in game.

Trivia

The design of GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories' police cars serves as the basis of those featured in the Manhunt series.

In Manhunt 2's episode "Broadcast Interrumpted", there's a parked vehicle that appears to be a civilian version of the VCPD Police Car.

The civilian version of the VCPD Cruiser that appears in Manhunt 2.

In GTA IV, if the siren takes a hit it will begin to make many different high-pitched noises similar to its normal siren, but severely distorted. Other cars won't pull over if you are driving a police car with a distorted siren.

The introductory cutscene of GTA San Andreas features C.R.A.S.H.'s LSPD Car, however the car has the rims of the Police car and Taxi in GTA Vice City.

In GTA III, if you look carefully on the front grille of Police Car, you can see a manufacturer badge, which resembles the one which real-life car company Ford uses.

If the player in San Andreas were to turn on the Ninja Theme cheat, the Police Car will still appear but the car is completely blacked out thus making it a unique paint scheme. The player can keep it by simply stealing the car, turning the cheat off, and saving it in their safehouse's garage.

In GTA IV, along with the Police Patrol, when policemen are driving the car it may emit unique horn sounds that cannot be made by any other car in the game.

The GTA III rendition has more realistic siren than the other renditions in the 3D Universe.

In the GTA San Andreas, the police car in the parking lot of Las Venturas Police Headquarters is only location that the police car is alarmed. However, the alarm sound is not heard, only the light is flashing, and if you drive near an officer on the street, you will attract one wanted star.

Glitch

In San Andreas, sometimes, when you snipe all police officers in a locked Police Car, their body disappear instead of lieing out. The car itself remains being locked and still chasing the player without its driver. This also happens to a Enforcer.

Locations

Police cars are usually parked in front of police stations and are often locked.